Shennong tasted a hundred herbs
In ancient times, people relied on hunting for survival, but due to rudimentary tools, the wild beasts captured were often not enough to eat.
How to solve the problem of food? Legend has it that there was an Emperor Yan who taught everyone to plow the fields, sow crops, and provide food for everyone to eat. He also led everyone to make various agricultural tools, promote water conservancy, teach them how to identify grains, plant hundreds of fruits, and enable humans to survive for generations to come. Therefore, people call Emperor Yan Shennong.
After cultivating the fields and growing food, people in the Shennong Church often fell ill or even died due to eating indiscriminately; In the face of illness, humans have no choice but to wait for death. Shennong is very anxious and determined to personally taste all the plants. In this way, we can know what is edible and what is not; What is harmful and what can cure diseases. After making up his mind, Shennong made two large pockets, one hanging on the left side of his body and the other on the right side. Every time he tastes something and finds it edible, he puts it in the left pocket for future consumption; If you think it can cure diseases, put it in the pocket on the right and use it as medicine in the future.
As soon as Shen Nong went out, he saw many cute young leaves growing in a short green tree in front of him. Shen Nong picked one and as soon as he put it in his mouth, it slipped into his stomach. That small tender leaf also floated back and forth in Shennong's belly, scrubbing his internal organs clean and refreshing. Shennong felt extremely comfortable, so he put it in the left pocket and named it "Cha", which is the tea leaves we use to make tea now.
The next day, Shennong discovered many light red flowers that were shaped like fluttering butterflies. Shennong picked a flower and put it in his mouth, feeling it sweet and fragrant. Shennong named the flower "Licorice" and put it in the pocket on the right. In this way, Shennong walked non-stop every day, his footprints covering rivers, mountains, and steep hills. He tasted various flowers and plants, and also learned many medicines, using them to save countless lives.
Once, a patient fell ill and found it difficult to find the herbs he needed. Shennong searched for a long time and finally found that it was growing on a steep rock wall, which was high, steep, and smooth, with no place to rest, even monkeys were difficult to climb. People shook their heads repeatedly when they saw it, sighing that the place where this herb grows is too high and dangerous. It's even harder to climb up than to reach the sky. Shennong was eager to save people, so he set up a wooden frame and slowly climbed up along it. Finally, he climbed to the top of the rock, picked herbs, and saved the patient. According to legend, the place where Shennong erected a trellis to collect herbs is called Shennongjia by people.
Shen Nong carried two bags full of medicinal herbs and continued to pick and taste them. Sometimes when he occasionally tasted poisonous grass, he would quickly take out the "cha" he had collected for the first time, swallow it, and the poison would be eliminated. But once, Shen Nong unfortunately tasted the "Broken Intestine Grass". This poisonous herb is really powerful. Before Shen Nong could swallow it to detoxify, its toxicity erupted. Before he died, Shen Nong tightly held onto his two pockets of herbs. People solemnly buried Shen Nong and honored him as the ancestor of agriculture and medicine.
Of course, the above is just a folk legend. However, we can also see the origin of the development of material civilization of the Chinese nation.